mica walkers’ guide
60 walks
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Vol 2 – East
Tom Prentice
Including: Drymen, Aberfoyle, Callander, Strathyre, Lochearnhead & Killin
The Aber Path to Loch Lomond National Nature Reserve
Contents Vol 2 – EAST Aberfoyle & Inversnaid
Introduction The National Park Map of the National Park Fauna & Flora Identification Using this Guidebook
4 5 6 10
Drymen & Loch Lomond map 13 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
2
Lomond Shores Balloch Castle Country Park Whinny Hill Woods Duncryne Aber Path to Loch Lomond NNR Garadhban & Drymen Buchanan Castle Conic Hill Inchcailloch Cashel’s Millennium Forest Sallochy Wood Ben Lomond Ardess Lodge Rowcoish
14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 34 36 38 40 42
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
Aberfoyle Village Doon Hill Craigmore Braeval & Lime Craigs Menteith Hills Inchmahome Fairy Knowe Lochan Spling Ben Venue from Ledard Kinlochard Forest Stronachlachar & Loch Katrine Inversnaid to Rob Roy’s Cave
The Trossachs 27 28 29 30 31 32
map 45 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 70
map 73
Ben Venue from Loch Achray Bealach nam Bò Brenachoile Point Ben A’ an Loch Drunkie Brig o’ Turk
74 76 80 82 86 88
33 Meall Cala – Glen Finglas
Callander & Strathyre 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44
Callander Craig Bracklinn Falls Stùc a’ Chròin Ben Gullipen Invertrossachs Coilhallan & Dunmore Bochastle & Falls of Leny Ben Ledi Sgiath a’ Chaise Beinn an t-Sìdhein Strathyre Circular
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map 95 96 98 100 102 104 106 108 110 114 116 118
Lochearnhead & Balquhidder map 121 45 Am Bioran & Dundurn 46 Ben Vorlich
122 124
47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55
Ben Our Glen Ample Glen Ogle Meall Reamhar Benvane & Glen Buckie Creag an Tuirc Kirkton Glen Monachyle Glen & The Stob Stob Binnein
Killin & Glen Dochart 56 57 58 59 60
126 128 130 132 134 136 138 140 142
map 147
Glen Ogle to Glen Dochart Acharn Forest Finlarig Meadows Creag Bhuidhe Ben More
148 150 152 156 158
Gaelic hill & place names
160
Published by Mica Publishing Text and photographs © Tom Prentice 2009 ISBN 978-0-9560367-1-1 Title page: Loch Voil Maps & design Mica Publishing www.micapublishing.com Printed and bound in China through Colorcraft Ltd., Hong Kong Mica walkers’ guides are distributed by Cordee Ltd. 01455 611185 info@cordee.co.uk www.cordee.co.uk While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this guidebook, paths and access points change over time. Sturdy footwear and waterproofs are recommended for all walks, plus a map and compass for all upland walks.
3
Flora & Fauna
8
germander speedwell
grass of parnassus
common dog violet
selfheal
lesser celandine
greater stitchwort
primrose
Scottish bluebell (harebell)
wood sorrel
devil’s-bit scabious
ramsons (wild garlic)
wood anemone
scots pine
rowan (in flower)
prostrate juniper
ptarmigan (male)
ptarmigan (female)
viviparous lizard
toad
common frog
golden-ringed dragonfly
scotch argus
emperor moth caterpillar
northern eggar moth caterpillar
9
The Trossachs
Ben Venue from Loch Achray
W
alter Scott put The Trossachs on the tourist map of Scotland in 1810, with his epic poem Lady of the Lake. Scott, along with the current Ordnance Sur vey and Har vey maps, define The Trossachs as the rough, craggy peninsula separating Loch Katrine from Loch Achray. Cutting through this is a narrow gorge followed by the current access road from Loch Achray to Loch Katrine Pier and the site in Scott’s poem of the battle between Roderick Dhu and the mysterious James Fitz-James. Despite this, the common usage of ‘The Trossachs’ covers an area from the northern flanks of Ben Venue to the southern flanks of Ben Ledi, a good
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example of how a name used for one small area has grown to encompass something much larger. Ben Venue [27] is the highest peak in the area and offers a relatively straightforward ascent to extensive views over Loch Katrine. These views are matched by craggy Ben A’ an [30] to the north, probably the most popular ascent in the area, and Bealach na Bò [28] on the north ridge of Ben Venue. About 250 years ago travel along the north side of Loch Katrine required ropes and ladders. A new road was built in the late 18th century, but this disappeared below Loch Katrine in the 1850s when the water level was raised as part of the reser voir system which still
supplies Glasgow with water. The current road dates back to these works and is easily followed through broadleaf woodland to the jetty at Brenachoile Point [29], for fine views to Ben Venue and west along Loch Katrine. Meall Cala [33] lies at the head of Glen Finglas north of Ben A’ an and is easily accessed from the small village of Brig o’ Turk via farm tracks alongside the Glen Finglas Reser voir – also part of Glasgow’s water system. Brig o’ Turk also
GETTING THERE Road: From Glasgow – M8, A82, A811, A81, A821. From Stirling & Edinburgh – M9, A84, A821. Bus: See pages 10 & 11
TOWNS & VILLAGES Loch Katrine Pier: Shop, restaurant, cafe, bicycle hire
provides the starting place for an exploration of hidden Loch Drunkie [31], in the heart of the conifer plantations east of the high road between Loch Achray and Aberfoyle to the south. The penultimate walk in this chapter explores the broadleaf woodland surrounding Brig o’ Turk [32], between the eastern flanks of Glen Finglas and the head of Loch Venachar. Much of the area is in the ownership of Woodland Trust Scotland.
Loch Achray: Various hotels offer refreshments for nonresidents Brig o’ Turk: Hotel, cafe
ACCOMMODATION Centred on the hotels surrounding Loch Achray. Some bed and breakfast. See also pages 10 & 11
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30
Ben A’ an
Mini-mountain of The Trossachs
Ben A’ an from Loch Katrine
W
hat’s in a name? In the case of Ben A’ an, quite a lot. For more than a century the anglicisation Ben An was accepted by the Ordnance Sur vey (OS). Then quite recently, as part of a sometimes confused and confusing re-Gaelicisation of Scottish place and mountain names (some of them English and Norse in origin), the OS changed the name to the odd looking Anglo-Gaelic of Ben A’ an. This name has also been adopted by Har vey maps for their Loch Lomond and The Trossachs Outdoor Atlas. It seems the name Ben An originates with Sir Walter Scott. In 1810 he wrote of it as Ben-an in his narrative poem The Lady of the Lake. Set against the backdrop of Loch Katrine and The Trossachs,
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this story of love, war and treachery is credited with kick-starting the Highland romantic revival. High on the south, huge Benvenue Down to the lake in masses threw Crags, knolls, and mounds, confusedly hurl’d, The fragments of an earlier world; A wildering forest feather’d o'er His ruin’d sides and summit hoar, While on the north, through middle air, Ben-an heaved high his forehead bare. In his excellent Scottish Hill Names Peter Drummond suggests Ben A’ an (or Ben An) was originally Am Binnean, Small Pointed Peak in English and this is supported in part by the name Binnein
START & FINISH: Ben A’ an Forestry car park, Loch Achray DISTANCE: 4km; 2.5 miles TIME: 1hr 30mins
being printed in brackets on the Ordnance Sur vey 1:50,000 map. Drummond also suggests Beannan, meaning Little Mountain. However noone can be certain of the hill’s original Gaelic name (or even if it had one) and for the sake of continuity between this guide and the maps Ben A’ an, odd as it is, has been adopted. Despite its lowly 461m height and the fact that it is just an outlier of the higher and significantly duller Meall Gainmheich to the north-east, Ben A’ an is a prominent landmark throughout The Trossachs and an excellent viewpoint. It is also one of the most popular hillwalks in the area and easily ascended from Loch Achray. This is a good hill to take youngsters on, although some adult assistance may
MAP: OS 57; Harvey LLTOA TERRAIN: Paths; muddy and rocky in places
GRADE: Easy / Moderate be needed if the forest section is muddy and care should be taken at the summit which is rocky and surrounded by cliffs. Park in the Forestry Commission Scotland Ben An (sic) car park on the north side of Loch Achray, (NN 509 070). Cross the road and follow the steep path up beside the fence to enter the conifer forest. Continue ascending past a viewpoint on the left and alongside a burn, then cross over the footbridge. The forest beyond can be quite boggy depending upon the weather and season, but soon leads to a grassy spot below Ben A’ an’s final rocky cone. This open area has fine views over Loch Katrine and makes a good spot for a picnic. The next section continues up a steep
Ben A’ an in afternoon light
Ben A’ an
Loch Katrine and the summit rocks
and rocky path through silver birch surrounding the burn, to skirt the cliffs and exit onto heather hillside. The path is obvious, if boggy in places, and leads round to the summit rocks. The summit is perfectly placed between Loch Katrine and Loch Venachar with an uninterrupted panorama from Ben Lomond [12] in the west, to the prominent twin summits of Stob Binnein [55] and Ben More [60] in the north, and Ben Ledi [41] and Ben Vorlich [46] in the east. Return by the same route.
Ben A’ an from Loch Achray
84
Forest approach to Ben A’ an
• • •
challenging hillwalks; many never described before 68 detailed colour maps and more than 200 inspirational colour photographs Part of a 2 volume series detailing 120 walks in the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, from the Clyde Estuary to the banks of Loch Tay Includes tourist information, flora and fauna identification and glossary of Gaelic and Scots hill and place names
Vol 2 – East
The Author: Tom Prentice has worked in newspapers and magazines for the past 30 years, specialising in outdoor activities. He is known for a regular column on walking in The Herald newspaper, Glasgow and as publications manager of the Scottish Mountaineering Club’s popular walking and climbing guides
60 walks Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park
• 60 walks of 3 to 12 miles, from lochside and woodland trails to more
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mica walkers’ guide